Maria Young - Titanic First Class Passenger

Miss Marie Grice Young was a 36 year old, American, first class passenger travelling aboard Titanic with her close friend Mrs Ella White, as well as Ella White’s servants Nellie Bessette and Sante Ringhini. They boarded Titanic at Cherbourg, France, and were returning home to New York after a trip to both Britain and France. They occupied first class cabin C32.

Marie young was born on Wednesday 5th January 1876, probably in Washington, USA. She became a music teacher in Washington, and her most famous pupils were the children of President Theodore Roosevelt.

By the time she sailed on Titanic, she had become a close friend of Ella White, with whom she lived with at Briarcliff Manor, New York, and seems to have spent most of her time with her.

Marie young and Ella White were returning aboard Titanic after completing a trip to Britain and France. Returning home with them were chickens which they had purchased in France to take back to their New York home. Marie young said she used to visit their chickens while aboard the ship; in doing so she become familiar with the ships Carpenter John Hutchinson and got to see a little of ‘below deck’ which most passengers would not witness.

After the passengers were told to go to the boat deck following the iceberg collision, Marie young, Ella White, and Nellie Bessette all boarded Titanic’s port side Lifeboat 8, which was one of the first to leave the ship. Sante Ringhini lost his life in the sinking.

After the Titanic disaster Marie young and Ella White continued to share a home and travel together. Upon the death of Ella White in 1942, Marie young inherited the majority of her estate for life.

In around 1953, Marie young moved into a rest home in Amsterdam, New York. She died there on Monday 27th July 1959. She is buried at Gate of Heaven Cemetery, Hawthorne, New York.